What flower is the symbol of the 21st Tirthankara Naminatha?

The flower symbol of the 21st Tirthankara Naminatha is the blue lotus.

In Jain iconography, this emblem is called a lanchhana, a distinguishing mark associated with each of the 24 Tirthankaras. It is traditionally shown beneath or near a Tirthankara image and helps identify figures who otherwise share similar meditative poses and visual features. Naminatha’s emblem is also rendered as a blue water lily in some English references.

Jain tradition places Naminatha twenty-first in the current descending half-cycle, or avasarpini. He was born at Mithila to King Vijaya and Queen Vipra of the Ikshvaku dynasty. His predecessor was Munisuvrata, and his successor was Neminatha.

The blue lotus should not be confused with the red lotus associated with Padmaprabha, the sixth Tirthankara. White lotus and jasmine are not Naminatha’s standard lanchhana. Jain accounts further say that Naminatha lived for 10,000 years and attained liberation at Sammed Shikhar, now commonly identified with Shikharji.